TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 15

Unit 15
TERM/TERMIN GEO SPHER VERT MORPH FORM DOC/DOCT
TUT/TUI DI/DUP BI/BIN Number Words
Quiz 15-1 Quiz 15-2 Quiz 15-3 Quiz 15-4 Quiz 15-5 Review Quizzes 15
TERM/TERMIN comes from the Latin verb terminare, “to limit, bound, or
set limits to,” and the noun terminus, “limit or boundary.” In English, those
boundaries or limits tend to be final. A term goes on for a given amount of
time and then ends, and to terminate a sentence or a meeting or a ballgame
means to end it.


terminal

(1) Forming or relating to an end or limit. (2) Fatal.

• She knows she's in the late stages of a terminal illness, and has already
drawn up a will.
A terminal disease ends in death. If you're terminally bored, you're “bored to
death.” For many students, a high-school diploma is their terminal degree
(others finish college before terminating their education). A bus or train
terminal is the endpoint of the line. A computer terminal was originally the
endpoint of a line connecting to a central computer. A terminal ornament may
mark the end of a building, and terminal punctuation ends this sentence.


indeterminate

Not precisely determined; vague.

• The police are looking for a tall white bearded man of indeterminate age
who should be considered armed and dangerous.

When you determine something, you decide on what it is, which means you
put limits or boundaries on its identity. So something indeterminate lacks
identifying limits. A mutt is usually the product of indeterminate breeding,
since at least the father's identity is generally a mystery. A painting of
indeterminate origins is normally less valued than one with the painter's name
on it. And if negotiations are left in an indeterminate state, nothing has been
decided.


interminable
tiresomely drawn out.

Having or seeming to have no end;

• The preacher was making another of his interminable pleas for money, so
she snapped off the TV.
Nothing is literally endless, except maybe the universe and time itself, so
interminable as we use it is always an exaggeration. On an unlucky day you
might sit through an interminable meeting, have an interminable drive home
in heavy traffic, and watch an interminable film—all in less than 24 hours.


terminus
(1) The end of a travel route (such as a rail or bus
line), or the station at the end of a route. (2) An extreme point; tip.
• They've been tracking the terminus of the glacier for 20 years, in which
time it has retreated 500 yards.
This word comes straight from Latin. In the Roman empire, a terminus was a
boundary stone, and all boundary stones had a minor god associated with
them, whose name was Terminus. Terminus was a kind of keeper of the

peace, since wherever there was a terminus there could be no arguments
about where your property ended and your neighbor's property began. So
Terminus even had his own festival, the Terminalia, when images of the god
were draped with flower garlands. Today the word shows up in all kinds of
places, including in the name of numerous hotels worldwide built near a city's
railway terminus.


GEO comes from the Greek word for “Earth.” Geography is the science that
deals with features of the Earth's surface. Geologists study rocks and soil to
learn about the Earth's history and resources. Geometry was originally about
measuring portions of the Earth's surface, probably originally in order to
determine where the boundaries of Egyptians' farms lay after the annual
flooding by the Nile River.


geocentric

Having or relating to the Earth as the center.

• He claims that, if you aren't a scientist, your consciousness is mostly
geocentric for your entire life.
The idea that the Earth is the center of the universe and that the sun revolves
around it is an ancient one, probably dating back to the earliest humans. Not
until 1543 did the Polish astronomer Copernicus publish his calculations
proving that the Earth actually revolves around the sun, thus replacing the
geocentric model with a heliocentric model (from Helios, the Greek god of
the sun). But geocentrism remains central to various religious sects around
the world, and still today one in five adult Americans believes the sun
revolves around the Earth.

geophysics
The science that deals with the physical processes
and phenomena occurring especially in the Earth and in its vicinity.
• Located in the heart of oil and gas country, the university offers a degree in
geophysics and many of its graduates go straight to work for the oil and gas
industry.
Geophysics applies the principles of physics to the study of the Earth. It deals
with such things as the movement of the Earth's crust and the temperatures of
its interior. Another subject is the behavior of the still-mysterious
geomagnetic field. Some geophysicists seek out deposits of ores or
petroleum; others specialize in earthquakes; still others study the water
beneath the Earth's surface, where it collects and how it flows.


geostationary
Being or having an orbit such that a
satellite remains in a fixed position above the Earth, especially having such
an orbit above the equator.
• It was the science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke who first conceived of a
set of geostationary satellites as a means of worldwide communication.
We don't give much thought to geostationary satellites, but many of us rely
on them daily. Anyone who watches satellite TV or listens to satellite radio is
dependent on them; the weather photos you see on TV are taken from
geostationary satellites; and military information gathering via satellite goes
on quietly day after day. (Though the satellites that provide GPS service for
your car or cell phone actually aren't geostationary, since they orbit the Earth
twice a day.) By 2009 there were about 300 geostationary satellites in
operation, all of them moving at an altitude of about 22,000 miles. Since they

hover above the same spot on Earth, your receiving dish or antenna doesn't
have to turn in order to track them.


geothermal
produced inside the Earth.

Of, relating to, or using the natural heat

• Geothermal power plants convert underground water or steam to electricity.
Geothermal comes partly from the Greek thermos, “hot” (see
THERM/THERMO). Most geothermal electricity is provided by power
plants situated in areas where there is significant activity of the Earth's great
tectonic plates—often the same areas where volcanoes are found. But hot
water from deep underground may be used by cities far from volcanoes to
heat buildings or sidewalks. And a newer source of geothermal energy relies
on a less dramatic kind of heat: Individual homeowners can now install heat
pumps that take advantage of the 50°-60° temperature of the soil near the
surface to provide heating in cold weather (and air-conditioning in the warm
months). These very small-scale geothermal systems may eventually supply
more useful energy than the large power plants.


Quiz 15-1
A. Choose the closest definition:
1. terminus
a. heat source b. endpoint c. final exam d. period
2. interminable
a. remarkable b. unthinkable c. reliable d. eternal
3. geocentric

a. moonlike b. near earth's core c. mathematical d. earth-centered
4. geophysics
a. physical geometry b. earth science c. material science d. science
of shapes
5. geostationary
a. polar b. hovering over one location c. space-station-related d.
equatorial
6. terminal
a. fatal b. technical c. verbal d. similar
7. indeterminate
a. lengthy b. uncertain c. unending d. likely
8. geothermal
a. globally warmed b. using earth's heat c. solar-powered d. tropical
Answers


B. Fill in each blank with the correct letter:
a. geophysics
b. terminus
c. geothermal
d. interminable
e. indeterminate
f. geocentric
g. terminal
h. geostationary
1. Tens of millions of people couldn't watch TV if it weren't for a fleet of ___
satellites.
2. Their house is mostly heated by a ___ heat pump, so they pay almost
nothing for fuel.
3. Most of us are ___ in our thinking until a grade-school teacher tells us

about how the earth revolves around the sun.
4. Their land extends all the way out to the ___ of the little peninsula.
5. He was a man of ___ age, and mysterious in other ways as well.
6. It was the mystery of the earth's magnetic field that eventually led him into
the field of ___.
7. He gave ___ lectures, and I usually dozed off in the middle.
8. Last week we assumed his condition was ___; today no one is making
predictions.
Answers


SPHER comes from the Greek word for “ball.” A ball is itself a sphere, as is
the ball that we call Earth. So is the atmosphere, and so are several other
invisible “spheres” that encircle the Earth.


spherical
segments.

Relating to a sphere; shaped like a sphere or one of its

• The girls agreed that the spacecraft had been deep blue and perfectly
spherical, and that its alien passengers had resembled large praying mantises.
Something spherical is like a sphere in being round, or more or less round, in
three dimensions. Apples and oranges are both spherical, for example, even
though they're never perfectly round. A spheroid has a roughly spherical
shape; so an asteroid, for instance, is often spheroidal—fairly round, but
lumpy.

stratosphere
(1) The part of the earth's atmosphere that
extends from about seven to about 30 miles above the surface. (2) A very
high or the highest region.
• In the celebrity stratosphere she now occupied, a fee of 12 million dollars
per film was a reasonable rate.
The stratosphere (strato- simply means “layer” or “level”) lies above the
earth's weather and mostly changes very little. It contains the ozone layer,
which shields us from the sun's ultraviolet radiation except where it's been
harmed by manmade chemicals. The levels of the atmosphere are marked
particularly by their temperatures; stratospheric temperatures rise only to
around 32°—very moderate considering that temperatures in the troposphere
below may descend to about -70° and those in the ionosphere above may rise
to 1000°.


biosphere
(1) The part of the world in which life can exist. (2)
Living things and their environment.
• The moon has no biosphere, so an artificial one would have to be
constructed for any long-term stay.
The lithosphere is the solid surface of the earth (lith- meaning “rock”); the
hydrosphere is the earth's water (hydro- means “water”), including the clouds
and water vapor in the air; and the atmosphere is the earth's air (atmosmeaning “vapor”). The term biosphere can include all of these, along with
the 10 million species of living things they contain. The biosphere recycles its
air, water, organisms, and minerals constantly to maintain an amazingly
balanced state; human beings should probably do their best to imitate it.
Though the word has a new sound to it, it was first used over a hundred years
ago.

hemisphere
Half a sphere, especially half the global sphere as
divided by the equator or a meridian.
• A sailor who crosses the equator from the northern to the southern
hemisphere for the first time is traditionally given a special initiation.
Hemisphere includes the prefix hemi-, meaning “half.” The northern and
southern hemispheres are divided by the equator, the circle halfway between
Earth's two poles. The eastern and western hemispheres aren't divided so
exactly, since there are no poles in the Earth's east-west dimension. Often the
dividing line is said to be the “prime meridian”—the imaginary north-south
line that runs through Greenwich, England, from which all longitude is
calculated (itself being the 0° meridian). But for simplicity's sake, the eastern
hemisphere is often said to include all of Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia,
while the western hemisphere contains North and South America and a great
deal of ocean.


VERT comes from the Latin verb vertere, meaning “to turn” or “to turn
around.” Vertigo is the dizziness that makes it seem as if everything is
turning around you. And an advertisement turns your attention to a product or
service.


divert
(1) To turn from one purpose or course to another. (2) To
give pleasure to by distracting from burdens or distress.
• The farmers had successfully diverted some of the river's water to irrigate
their crops during the drought.
The Roman circus was used to provide diversion for its citizens—and

sometimes to divert their attention from the government's failings as well.
The diversion was often in the form of a fight—men pitted against lions,
bears, or each other—and the audience was sure to see blood and death. A
diverting evening these days might instead include watching the same kind of
mayhem on a movie screen.


converter
A device that changes something (such as radio
signals, radio frequencies, or data) from one form to another.
• She was so indifferent to television that she hadn't even bought a converter,
and her old TV sat there useless until she finally lugged it down to the
recycling center.
Converters come in many forms. Travelers to foreign countries who bring
along their electric razors or hair dryers always pack a small electric
converter, which can change direct current to alternating current or vice
versa. In 2009 millions of Americans bought digital-analog converters, small
box-shaped devices that change the new broadcast digital signal to the analog
signal that older TV sets were made to receive. A catalytic converter is the
pollution-control device attached to your car's exhaust system that converts
pollutants such as carbon monoxide into harmless form.


avert
prevent.

(1) To turn (your eyes or gaze) away or aside. (2) To avoid or

• General Camacho's announcement of lower food prices averted an
immediate worker's revolt.

Sensitive people avert their eyes from gory accidents and scenes of disaster.
But the accident or disaster might itself have been averted if someone had
been alert enough. Negotiators may avert a strike by all-night talks. In the
Cuban missile crisis of 1962, it seemed that nuclear catastrophe was barely
averted. Aversion means “dislike or disgust”—that is, your feeling about
something you can't stand to look at.


revert
(1) To go back or return (to an earlier state, condition,
situation, etc.). (2) To be given back to (a former owner).
• Control of the Panama Canal Zone, first acquired by the U.S. in 1903,
reverted to the local government in 1999.
Since the prefix re- often means “back” (see RE-), the basic meaning of
revert is “turn back.” Revert and reversion often show up in legal documents,
since property is often given to another person on the condition that it will
revert to the original owner at some future date or when something happens
(usually the death of the second person). In nonlegal uses, the word tends to
show up in negative contexts. Many reformed drinkers, for example,
eventually revert to their old ways, and most people revert to smoking at least
once or twice before succeeding in quitting for good.


Quiz 15-2
A. Fill in each blank with the correct letter:
a. revert
b. avert
c. hemisphere
d. biosphere
e. divert

f. converter
g. spherical
h. stratosphere
1. Every living thing that we know of inhabits the earth's ___.
2. The generals had discussed what would be involved if they tried to ___
10,000 troops from Afghanistan to Iraq.
3. The ___ contains the ozone layer, which guards the earth against excessive
ultraviolet radiation.
4. She's praying that her daughter doesn't ___ to her old habit of partying
several nights a week.
5. As soon as his normal baseball season is over, my nephew joins a team in
the southern ___, where spring training is just starting.
6. Only by seizing a cord dangling beside the window did he manage to ___
disaster.
7. By federal law, every gasoline-powered vehicle must have a catalytic ___
to reduce pollution.
8. Football and rugby balls are ovoid, unlike the ___ balls used in other
sports.
Answers


B. Match the word on the left to the correct definition on the right:
1. avert
a. go back
2. spherical b. upper atmosphere
3. divert
c. device for adapting
4. hemisphere d. avoid
5. revert
e. half-sphere

6. biosphere f. entertain
7. stratosphere g. globelike
8. converter h. life zone
Answers


MORPH comes from the Greek word for “shape.” Morph is itself an English
word with a brand-new meaning, which was needed when we began to
digitally alter photographic images or shapes to make them move or
transform themselves in often astonishing ways.